Jefferson 5 Cents

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Jefferson 5 Cents

Jefferson 5 Cents

Jefferson 5-cent coin endures many changes By William T. Gibbs COIN WORLD Staff If one word sums up the Jefferson 5-cent coin, it would be "change" because throughout its storied history it has endured many changes. • The Mint mark has been placed in thr...READ MORE

Jefferson 5 Cents

Jefferson 5 Cents

Jefferson 5-cent coin endures many changes
By William T. Gibbs
COIN WORLD Staff If one word sums up the Jefferson 5-cent coin, it
would be "change" because throughout its storied history it
has endured many changes. • The Mint mark has been placed in three
different locations, and disappeared completely for a time. • The
designer's initials were added, but not until 1966, nearly two decades
after the coin was introduced. (Coin World
helped lead the successful public campaign to get Felix Schlag's
initials on the coin.) • The composition was changed, with the nickel
component dropped for nearly four years – mid-1942 through 1945 – from
the coin most Americans call a "nickel." • It has been issued
with multiple surface finishes: standard business strike, Brilliant
Proof, Frosted Proof and a non-Proof Matte Finish. • The Jefferson
5-cent coin was selected for new designs as a way of commemorating
Jefferson's role and the bicentennials of the Louisiana Purchase and the
Lewis and Clark Expedition. Three different portraits of Jefferson have
been used, one produced for one year only. Felix Schlag, a German-born
designer, won a national design competition to replace the Indian Head
5-cent coin in 1938. Mint officials then still followed the 25-year rule
(legally, still in effect today) that they interpreted as requiring
design changes every 25 years. Although Schlag won, officials rejected
his winning reverse design of Monticello as viewed from an oblique
angle, and replaced it with the more static head-on view still used
today. World War II brought the most significant alloy change for the
Jefferson 5-cent coin. The composition was significantly altered and the
Mint mark relocated to note the alloy change. The short Wartime Alloy
set is an inexpensive, popular one with collectors, totaling 12 coins.
The series is a fantastic one for die variety collectors: It has
numerous repunched Mint marks, over Mint marks and doubled dies,
including the 1943/2-P overdate variety. Many can be found unattributed
in dealers' inventories at a fraction of their real values, if one knows
what to look for. Not counting the die varieties and some of the early
Proofs, there is only one non-Proof Jefferson 5-cent coin that could be
considered slightly scarce, and it is dated 1994! A special 1994-P
Jefferson 5-cent coin was struck with a non-Proof Matte Finish. It was
issued as part of the Jefferson Coin and Currency set (it comprises the
Jefferson commemorative silver dollar, a Series 1976 $2 Federal Reserve
note depicting Jefferson, and the special 5-cent coin). Final mintage of
the special 5-cent coin was 167,703 pieces. New Jefferson 5-cent
designs were created under the banner of the "Westward Journey
Nickel Program." In 2004 Jefferson's portrait was retained on the
obverse and two new reverses were produced. One reverse design honors
the Louisiana Purchase and features the design of the Jefferson Indian
peace medal Lewis and Clark distributed to native leaders. The second
depicts the larger boat the expedition used along the Missouri River for
a portion of the journey. A new, right-facing Jefferson portrait was
selected for the 2005 obverse (and used only in that year) and it was
paired with two new commemorative reverses: one showing a plains bison,
one of the many animal species Lewis and Clark Expeditions members saw
during their journeys; and a design showing a scene of the Pacific Ocean
coastline representing the end of the westward journey of Lewis and
Clark. A new full-facing portrait of Jefferson was added to the
obverse in 2006 and Monticello was restored to the reverse.

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LIBERTY CAP RIGHT HALF CENT

THE SMALLEST DENOMINATION

Although it may seem unusual today, the United States government once issued a coin worth less than one cent: the half cent. The copper U.S. half cent was authorized for production on April 2, 1792. During its 64-year lifespan as a circulating denomination, five different basic design types of the tiny (0.93-inch) coin were struck. The coins were struck at the Philadelphia Mint and do not have a Mint mark. The half cent's designers and engravers are among the best known names in U.S. Mint design/engraving history: Adam Eckfeldt, Robert Scot, John Gardner, Gilbert Stuart, John Reich and Christian Gobrecht. Designs for the half cent were also used on other denominations through the years. The 1793 Liberty Cap half cent features a lettered edge stating TWO HUNDRED FOR A DOLLAR. The obverse depicts a bust of Liberty with flowing hair, facing left. A Liberty Cap on a pole rests on her right shoulder giving the design its name, the Liberty Cap. The design for the Liberty Cap half cent was based on Agustin Dupre's Libertas Americana medal. Half cents struck between 1794 and 1797 bear another Liberty Cap design, this one facing right, and issued in Plain Edge, Lettered Edge and Gripped Edge varieties. From 1800 to 1808 the Draped Bust design was used on half cents. All half cents bearing those dates are Plain Edge varieties. The Classic Head design was used on half cents struck between 1809-1836. From 1849 to 1857, a Coronet design with Plain Edge was used. All half cents have a wreath on the reverse. The key dates in the series are 1793; 1796, No Pole; 1802/0, Reverse of 1800; and 1831.